Prison operator stays silent on drugs in facility

7 May 2013, 10:40 p.m.

THE operators of Junee Correctional Centre have gone to ground over claims drug use is rife throughout the facility.

Prison operator stays silent on drugs in facility

GONE TO GROUND: Operators of Junee jail deny that drug use is rife throughout the facility during an inquest yesterday at the Wagga Coroner’s Court into the death of inmate Anthony James Van Rysewyk in 2011 from a heroin overdose.

Mr Collins said heroin and speed were “drugs of choice” given they only last in the blood for a short time and were easy to secrete.

He highlighted an ICAC inquiry in Windsor earlier this year that revealed corrupt conduct by a prison officer at the Long Bay Correctional Centre.

A statement on the JA website said the group recognises “all deaths in custody, under any circumstance, as the ultimate failure in the duty of care that is incumbent upon police and corrective services to fulfil”.

It is currently in negotiations with the shadow spokesperson for justice for a public inquiry into a number of recent deaths in custody, including that of a woman from a suspected drug overdose at the Dillwynia Correctional Centre in Sydney earlier this year.

Two former jail inmates and witnesses at the Wagga inquest, who can’t be named for legal reasons, told the court a drug prescribed to get inmates off heroin, known as BEWP or buprenorphine, was often smuggled out of the medical clinic and traded within the prison, along with used syringes.

One also questioned checks on visitors to the jail, telling the court contact was at the discretion of officers.

Inmates are strip searched, but not cavity searched after visits.

A spokeswoman for the NSW Attorney General and Minister for Justice Greg Smith also refused to comment ahead of the coroner’s recommendation.